Improvement in watch and locket cases



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

CHARLES WI OLEIVBY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

IMPROVEMENT lN WATCH AND LOCKET CASES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 34,564, dated March 4,1862.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. CLEwEY, of the city and county ofProvidence, in the State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Lockets and Similar Metallic Cases; and I dohereby'declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Lockets are formed of two halves or sides alike in general forniconnected by a hinge held shut by a spring-catch and suspended by ametallic ring passed through a stud or knob, so as to resemble inmaterial, form, and iinish an ordinary watch-case. Each side of thelocket consists, generally, of two parts-`a ring-base, commonly calledthe rim, and the plate thatforms the outer case or back. The latter isfrequently replaced on one side of the locket by a glass similar to awatchglass.

Prior to my invention the rim of each side of the locket was generallyformed of two pieces, of the form represented at Figs. A, B, and C. Oneof the pieces consisted of a solid ring, Fig. A, formed of wires of thesection required, as shown at d a., bent into a ring form and solderedwhere the ends met. The

other piece, Fig. B, which is commonly called the field-piece, wasformed of flat wires, as shown in section at o h, also bent into a ringform and soldered where the ends met. The two pieces were then solderedtogether, as represented at Fig. C. Locket-rims constructed in thismanner are objectionable on account of the cost of manufacture and theweight of metal required.

The invention which is the subject of this patent is designed tosupersede locket-rims formed by the above method; and it consists in arim for a locket or similar metallic case formed of sheet metal in suchmanner that the ring and field-piece consist of one piece of thin sheetmetal so bent that the face of the iield-piece within the locket and theexterior surface of the ring are formed by the same surfaceof theoriginal sheet metal.

The case may be manufactured in various ways; but I prefer tomanufacture it by stam-ping a planchet out of sheet metal and changingits form wholly by the action of suitable dies. In manufacturing by thismode of operation a planchet such as is represented at Fig. l is stampedout of the sheet metal by a suitable punching-tool. It is then subjectedto the action of a set of dies, which giveittheshaperepresentedatFig.2.Itisthen subjected to a second set of dies-such, for example, as thoserepresented in section at Fig. 7, which give it the form represented atFig. 3, the action of the dies being such that the cylindrical part ofFig. 3 is turned inward to form the fiat ring t' of Fig. 3, which is nowof the proper form for one side of the locket or ease. The metal to formthe rim for the other side of the locket is subjected to a third set ofdies-such, for example, as those represented in section at Fig. S-afterit has been acted upon by the first two sets above mentioned. This thirdset carry the bending process still further, indent the iiat field-piecet' of Fig. 3, and give it the proper shape to constitute the depressedfield-piece, as shown at o, Fig. i. After the rims are completed, twosolid backs are fitted to them, two rims are connected by a hinge, thestud or knob and the ring are applied, so that the whole constitutes acase such as is represented open at Fig. 5 and closed at Fig. 6.

I have not deemed it necessary in the foregoing description to describein detail the construction of the dies and the mechanism by which theyare operated, as these constitute no part of the invention which is thesubject-matter of this patent. Moreover, my invention is not limited tothe mode of form ing the sheet metal into the shape required wholly bythe action of dies, although I prefer this method to others, both onaccount of the little manual labor required and the economy of thematerial. The latter becomes obvious when it is considered that theplanchet punched out of Fig. lis of proper size and shape to form alocket-rim of smaller size, and the planchet punched from the latterforms the half of a locket stud or knob. So, also, the pieces of sheetmetal which are left after punching ont the series of planchets firstcut from the sheet are worked up to rims or knobs, until the only scrapsremaining are triangular pieces of too small size to form parts for thesmallest-sized lockets.

My invention is particularly adapted to cases of plated metal, for asthe face of the eld-pieoe and the exterior of the rim are both formed ofthe same surface of the sheet metal the latter requires to be plated onone side Only. Case-rims inade in this 1n anner are also advantageous onaccount of their light weigh t.

I do not limit myself to :my peouliarity in the method of manufacturingoase-rims; but

/Vhat 1 claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

A rim for lookets and similar metallic eases,

formed of sheet metal n such manner that the face Of the field-pieceWithin the oase and the exterior surface Of the ri 1n are both formedfrom the saine side or surface of the original sheet metal, and that thelield-piece and rim are of one piece of metal.

CHARLES W. CLEWBY. Witnesses:

JOHN GARTLAND, JOHN RICHARDSON.

